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The aims of our pilot study were to test (1) the effectiveness of tactile stimulation by fathers on their infants' physiological responses such as oxygen saturation levels, heart rates (HRs), and respiration rates (RRs) and (2) fathers' perceived levels of attachment to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This was a quasi-experimental design using a control group, which assessed pre- and post-intervention differences via t tests. Twenty neonate-father dyads participated in the intervention and 20 neonate-father dyads populated a control group from one general hospital located in South Korea. Infants in the experimental group received tactile stimulation for one 10-minute period per day, for five consecutive days. Overall, we found that tactile stimulation by fathers significantly stabilized infants' physiological status, including oxygen saturation levels, HRs, and RRs (t = 2.138, p = .039; t = -2.348, p = .024; t = -3.461, p = .001, respectively) with effect size ranged 0.67-1.10 and increased paternal attachment levels (t = 3.982, p = .001) with large effect size (1.29). This pilot study suggests that tactile stimulation by the father may be regarded as an important and potentially useful intervention for the care of infants in the NICU.

This study aimed to compare the quality of nursing care as perceived by registered nurses and mothers of hospitalized children in South Korea. Methods: This was a descriptive study that recruited 70 mothers of hospitalized children and 70 nurses in pediatric units in university hospitals as participants. The quality of pediatric nursing care was measured using importance and performance scores for 19 items describing various elements of nursing care. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the independent t-test. Results: The hospitalized children mothers'mean importance scores were significantly higher than those of the nurses (t=2.94, p=.004). However, there were no significant differences in the mean performance scores of nurses and mothers (t=0.91, p=.363) or between nurses'and mothers'perceptions of quality of nursing care, with the exception of a significant difference for the quality of explanations (t=2.78, p=.006). The quality of explanations was assessed more positively by nurses than by mothers. Conclusion: This study suggests that when developing strategies to improve the quality of nursing care in pediatric wards, ensuring that pediatric nurses provide detailed explanations should be considered as a way to improve the quality of nursing care in pediatric units.

This study examined the effects of nurse–parent partnership, nurses’ attitude to families’ importance in nursing care, and nursing professional self-efficacy on the quality of pediatric nursing care. Background: The quality of pediatric nursing care based on family-centered care is defined by the qualitative care behavior of nurses from the perspective of hospitalized children and their families. Methods: The participants were 218 nurses in pediatric wards in hospitals. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and path analysis. Results: Among the factors influencing the perceived quality of respect, explanation, and skillfulness, nurse experience showed the greatest total effect. The nurse–parent partnership had the greatest direct effect on the quality of respect and the greatest total effect on kindness. Nursing professional self-efficacy showed the greatest direct effect on explanation and the largest total effect on nurse–parent partnership and nurses’ attitude to families’ importance in nursing care. Conclusions: To improve the quality of pediatric nursing care, it is necessary to provide a working environment in which pediatric nurses can work continuously. Hospitals should also develop a program that enables proper collaboration between nurses and parents of hospitalized children and improves nursing professional self-efficacy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument that evaluated QUality Of care Through patients' Eyes for hospitalized child (QUOTE-Child), and examine the validity and reliability. Methods: Preliminary items were reviewed through expert content validity and face validity. To test the validity and reliability of the instrument, the data were collected from 221 care givers of hospitalized children. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown coefficient. Results: Factor analysis yielded 19 items in four factors including 1) respect, 2) explanation, 3) kindness, and 4) skillfulness, with a cumulative explanatory variance of 70.68%. For criterion-related validity, a significant positive relationship was found between quality of care and pediatric family satisfaction. For internal consistency reliability, the Cronbach's α was .93 (importance) and .95 (performance) for the overall instrument. The half split reliabilities were .86, .95 (importance) and .92, .97 (performance). The Cronbach's α of 110 data was .92 (importance) and .94 (performance). Conclusion: Researchers and practitioners can use this instrument to systematically assess quality of care for hospitalized children and identify areas of support for hospitalized children and their family.